


Christmas Love Stories Are For Losers

by GracieBirdie



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 02:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17132939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GracieBirdie/pseuds/GracieBirdie
Summary: Fake dating, snowed in together, AND there's only one bed. Stiles and Derek are living in a Hallmark movie.





	Christmas Love Stories Are For Losers

**Author's Note:**

> uh so I might have written this last year and then didn't finish before Christmas so here we are

Derek Hale chose to attend Southern Oregon university because it was breathtakingly beautiful and it had a good history department. The fact it was 9 hours away from anyone who knew him was pure coincidence.

He came to Ashland an awkward teenager uncomfortable in his own skin and mistrustful of strangers. Six years, one bachelor’s degree, two relatively well received books, and several guest lectures later Derek was more than happy with himself and his life.

Sometimes he felt a bit lonely and missed his pack, but then one of them would call him and say something to remind him of how judgmental they all were, and he got over it.

It had been hard those first few months, trying to fit in with the pack in Ashland.

The Ashland pack wasn’t made up of only family members like the Beacon Hills pack was. Because Ashland was a college town, werewolves came and went so often Derek didn’t even bother to meet them all.

But he’d somehow managed to make two friends in the pack. Vernon Boyd and Erica Reyes weren’t people Derek would have ever imagined being friends with in high school but the three of them got along surprisingly well.

They had even introduced Derek to his best friend, Stiles Stilinski.

Erica had forced Derek out to a bar with her, claiming he and Boyd would have fun but neglected to mention the country music was the theme of the bar they were going to.

The moment Derek walked in he was fully prepared to walk right back out. He had turned towards the door only to have someone walk right into him.

The fact Stiles and Derek had a meet-cute story delighted Stiles and annoyed Derek to no end.

Erica and Stiles were both criminology students and had met through shared classes. Erica was on her way to becoming a member of the Supernatural Special Forces Division, but wanted a degree under her belt beforehand while Stiles was getting his bachelor of science degree in criminal justice so that he could one day run for his father’s position of sheriff in Stiles’ home town.

Derek should have recognized the name Sheriff Stilinski when Stiles first told him about his father, but he hadn’t, his excuse being that he had been slightly tipsy and suffering from a headache brought on by the incessant twanging the bar’s live band.

Stiles would have recognized the name Cora Hale, if Derek ever referred to his siblings in any other way than ‘Those people I had to share a bathroom with.’

It took Derek almost two months to convince Stiles that he didn’t really hate his family, he just preferred to love them from afar.

Now six months after meeting Stiles for the first time Derek finally realized they grew up in the same town.

Derek had stopped by the library, where Stiles was working, to pick up some books he had ordered. He was there around Stiles’ lunch hour and decided to ask if Stiles wanted to get some food with him.

When he walked into the building he saw Stiles at the checkout counter talking to one of his liberal arts friends Fred, or maybe Frank.

Derek walked up right as Stiles said, “Oh, I’m going home to Beacon Hills for Christmas.”

Derek leaned across the library counter and eyed Stiles. “Beacon Hills?” he asked.

Stiles blinked at him for a moment before his eyes got huge and he gasped. “The Hale pack!”

“Are you seriously just now putting that together?” Derek asked, as if he had known the whole time they were from the same town.

“It’s not like Hale is a unique last name!” Stiles said, flailing his hand out and bumping it against Derek’s face in the process. “Unlike  _ Stilinski _ ! How many ‘Sheriff Stilinski’s have you heard of?”

Derek shrugged and pointedly didn’t say anything.

Stiles quirked an eyebrow. “I can’t believe we grew up in the same town, but it took us going 550 miles away from it to meet! How crazy is that? We practically grew up together!” Stiles exclaimed in delight.

Derek rolled his eyes. “We didn’t  _ grow up together _ . I’m six years older than you.”

“Oh, come on Derek! In this age of opened mindedness six years means nothing!”

Since the moment they had met Stiles had been flirting with him. He knew Stiles was only playing, having seen him flirt with both Erica and Boyd on numerous occasions, but strangely Derek found Stiles’ slightly awkward advances almost charming rather than annoying.

“You’re right, our age difference doesn’t matter.” Derek leaned even closer to Stiles. “Because we’re not dating.”

Stiles pouted. “We could be if you’d ever agree to go out on a date with me.”

Stiles had never actually asked Derek out on a date. Derek didn’t point that out to him.

He sighed deeply. “Sorry Stiles, asking me out like that’ll get you nowhere.”

Stiles snorted and raised his eyebrows questioningly, asking Derek without words whether he was being serious or not.

Derek shrugged stiffly. “I’m sorry, Stiles, but I’m just not ready to start dating again. Not after what happened with Jennifer.”

Derek had had only two steady girlfriends in his life. Both had ended up being serial killers. Derek had briefly considered becoming a monk after Jennifer’s arrest but his lack of interest in organized religion had put a damper on that idea.

Stiles, who had been the first to realize something was just a bit off with Jennifer, quickly understood.  “That’s okay Derek, I get it. Well I don’t  _ get it _ get it, I’ve never had the same experience you have, but I get where you’re coming from and-”

“Thanks, Stiles.” Derek quickly cut Stiles off, knowing the other man would just fall into babbling if he wasn’t stopped. “I’m glad  _ someone _ gets it. My family is convinced it’s something that’s easy to get over…”

In fact, Peter Hale, Derek’s uncle, had just that morning called to ask Derek if he had found a new girlfriend yet. After all, according to Peter, three months was a perfectly acceptable time to get over the trauma dating a serial killer could cause.

“Man, I can’t believe both of our families are pushing us to date. What is this, the 50’s? What happened to the 70’s free love they fought for?”

“They’re still pushing you to date someone?” Derek asked.

“Oh, you know,” Stiles said, waving his hand dismissively, “Once one kid gets married it’s apparently required for the other to get married too.”

Stiles’ stepbrother Scott had recently married his high school sweetheart. Even since, Stiles father and stepmother had become increasingly concerned with Stiles’ love life, or rather, lack thereof.

From Derek’s right Fred said, “Um, Stiles?”

Derek twitched in surprise having forgotten Fred was even there. He turned and crossed his arms over his chest, staring Fred down. Fred took a nervous step away from the counter. Derek smirked.

“Oh, I’m sorry Francis. What were you saying?”

Fred tried to shuffle closer to Stiles, but Derek refused to move. “I was just…Wondering if…you wanted to spend Christmas together?”

“Oh sorry, Francis, but like I said, I’m going home for Christmas to see my family.” Stiles said apologetically.

Fury was rolling off Fred in waves and Derek puffed up threateningly.

“Stiles, how can you be so oblivious?” Fred yelled. Someone shushed him from the stacks, but Fred ignored them. “How can you go around making jokes about asking people out when I’ve been trying to ask you out for months and you haven’t even noticed?”

From the stacks someone else hissed “No yelling in the library.”

“Francis I’m so sorry.” Stiles said, looking genuinely upset. “I didn’t realize you liked me. I thought you just wanted to hang out, like friends do?”

“You thought wrong!” Fred yelled. He turned on his heel and stormed out. Stiles blinked owlishly after him.

“What just happened?” he asked.

“You dodged a bullet.” Derek said, glaring at the front doors.

“Guess so…” Stiles muttered as he leaned under the counter to pull Derek’s books out.

When Stiles straightened back up Derek caught the forlorn expression on his face and tried to lighten the mood, “If it was only so easy for my family to misunderstand, maybe they’d leave me alone.”

Stiles bounced up from his chair and managed to hit himself in the face with his hand in his excitement. “Derek.” He said, trying to sound serious but missing by a mile with his hand cupping his stinging cheek.

Derek’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, both at the abrupt mood swing and tone. Just the week before Stiles had used that tone to convince a very pushy waitress that Derek was not, in fact, a published writer but that he had had his identity stolen.

The waitress had left them angrily bewildered, but she had stopped trying to get Derek’s number, so he hadn’t complained at the time.

“Derek, just hear me out.” Stiles said eagerly, bouncing up and down on his toes in his excitement.

Derek worriedly eyed the rolling chair behind Stiles, hoping that if Stiles tripped over it he wouldn’t crack his head open.

“Whatever harebrained scheme you’re thinking up, stop it right now.” Derek said firmly.

“But Derek it’ll solve all of our problems!” Stiles said, grinning widely in that ridiculously infectious way he had.

“Stiles no.” Derek said.

“Stiles  _ yes _ !” Stiles yelled.

From the stacks someone screamed “Shut the fuck up!”

Derek facepalmed.

* * *

 

Derek and Stiles had gotten kicked out of the library by the head librarian. Stiles had managed to keep his job only by bribing her with baked good.

They walked down the street to the bakery, both to grab lunch and a bribery bear claws.

They ordered and while they sat waiting Derek glared at Stiles.

Stiles smiled innocently at Derek before saying, “We should tell our families we’re dating.”

Derek sighed deeply in defeat. He’d  _ thought _ that was what Stiles would say. “Stiles you can’t lie to werewolves, remember?”

Stiles leaned forward across the table and batted his eyelashes teasingly. “Who said anything about lying?” he whispered

Derek was momentarily distracted by how pretty Stiles’ eyes looked and how very long his eyelashes were. He realized suddenly how close their faces were to each other and leaned back a bit. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face.

“Stiles I just told you-” Derek started tiredly.

“No  _ no _ !” Stiles said, waving his hand to cut Derek off. “I meant we can  _ temporarily _ date! You know, until after Christmas!”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Okay we’ll tell them we’re dating and  _ that’ll _ be the truth, but are you forgetting about everything else we would have to lie about?”

“Derek.” Stiles said seriously. “Don’t you know that the best lie is the truth?”

Derek frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously.

“We tell them that we recently started dating, that we’re not sure how serious it’s going to be, and that we’re taking things slowly.”

“What’s our first date then?” Derek asked slowly, intrigued despite himself.

Stiles waved his hand around dramatically. “Derek! We’re on a date right now!”

Derek opened his mouth to correct him but stopped, realizing that it  _ could _ be a date. He blinked at Stiles in surprise.

Stiles was smirking smugly at him. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Gotcha.” Stiles said. He pointed finger guns at Derek.

Derek hung his head and muttered “I’m going to regret this.”

Stiles fist pumped and hit the waitress.

Derek buried his face in his hands while Stiles stuttered out apologies to her.

What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

 

Three days before Christmas and Derek wasn’t regretting agreeing to Stiles’ stupid temporary dating idea as much as he had thought he would be.

It was seven in the morning and they were just about to set off on the nine-hour drive to Beacon Hills, so Derek figured he still had plenty of time for the regret to set in.

Stiles had shown up just a few minutes before, sleepy eyed but baring coffee. He pressed one of the cups into Derek’s hand with a smirk. Derek eyed the coffee apprehensively. It had an innocuous knit cozy around it.

Derek glared at him and Stiles smiled sweetly. “Good morning boyfriend of mine.”

Derek’s eyes narrowed as he sniffed his coffee. He had been right to be suspicious. It smelled like some overly sweetened fake peppermint monstrosity.

“Stiles.” Derek said slowly. “Did you buy me coffee from  _ Starbucks _ ?”

Stiles gasped and pressed a hand to his chest. “ _ Me _ ? Buy  _ you _ a coffee from an overpriced chain coffee store? I would  _ never _ !”

Derek pulled the cozy off to reveal the logo. He brandished the cup threateningly at Stiles who gasped dramatically.

Derek rolled his eyes and pushed a bag of presents into Stiles’ free hand. “Help me carry these down to my car.”

He picked up two bags to carry himself and closed the door to his apartment. He started down the hallway to the elevator with Stiles right on his heels.

“Your car?” Stiles asked, trying to hold onto the bag and his coffee without tripping over the elevator step. “I thought we were taking my car?”

“Stiles, there is absolutely no way in hell we’re going to take your death trap-waiting-to-happen!”  Derek glared at Stiles over the rim of his coffee cup.

“Well there’s no way in hell I would be caught dead in your sensible soccer-mom car!”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Key word being dead.”

“Hey!” Stiles said, offended on his cars’ behalf. “My baby’s perfectly capable of getting us to Beacon Hills in mostly one piece!”

The elevator opened in the lobby and they stepped out.

“I’m convinced the only thing keeping that car together is duct tape and magic.” Derek said, opening and holding the front door for Stiles.

“Are you dissing my magic, Hale?” Stiles asked, glaring threateningly at Derek.

Derek gestured impatiently for Stiles to keep walking. “No Stiles.” He said dutifully.

Stiles smirked at him over his shoulder. As a result, he didn’t see the large patch of ice and would have walked right into it if Derek hadn’t reached out and grabbed the hood of his coat. Stiles gagged and glared as Derek dragged him around the ice and through a patch of snow. “Great. Now my shoes are wet.”

“If you were wearing boots that wouldn’t be a problem.” Derek said, letting go of Stiles hood to lead the way to his car.

“I’m a poor undergrad, Derek. I don’t have money to splurge on boots!”

Derek unlocked the trunk of his very sensible and reliable cruiser and put his bags inside it. He reached out to help Stiles with the one he was holding and smirked. “And yet you can afford stupid overpriced chain coffee. And duct tape.”

Stiles glared. “Okay fine! You win! We’ll take your stupid car. Are you happy now?”

“I’d be happier if we’d already gotten this done and over with.”

“Oh, lighten up Der.” Stiles said as he opened his jeep, which was conveniently parked in the spot next to Derek’s.

“Der?” Derek asked, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Nobody’s ever called me  _ Der _ before.”

“Seriously?” Stiles asked as he pulled his own bags from his jeep. “It’s right there!”

“Why’d you call me that?”

Stiles gave Derek a pitying look. “We’re  _ dating _ . I’m contractually obligated to call you stupid pet names.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “If we had a contract I would have stipulated no pet names.”

“What have you got against pet name? Pet names are great!” Stiles carefully arranged his and Derek’s bags before stepping back so Derek could close the trunk.

“They’re stupid.”

Stiles stared. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”

Derek shrugged and led the way back to his apartment to get the rest of his things. “Do I need a better reason?”

“Well…” Stiles said, frowning in thought. “I guess not…”

Derek sidestepped the patch of ice. He absently held his arm out. He hadn’t even realized he’d done it before Stiles shrieked and grabbed onto him. Derek gave a long-suffering sigh and hauled Stiles away from the ice before he could do more than slip.

From where Stiles was pressed up against Derek’s side he smiled and in a saccharine voice said, “I’m going to call you Der-bear.”

Derek growled. “Call me that again and we’ll take your car only for there to be a  _ tragic accident _ .”

Stiles shifted closer and pressed a kiss against Derek’s cheek.

“You wouldn’t dare...-bear.” He whispered before taking off down the sidewalk, cackling madly.

Derek went completely still, momentarily distracted by how warm Stiles’ lips had felt. Then he shot after Stiles, intent on making sure he paid for his stupid nicknames.

* * *

 

“Stiles, if you don’t hold still I’m putting you in the trunk and letting the presents ride shotgun.” Derek said in exasperation.

Stiles had fallen asleep almost the moment he had gotten into the car, but the peace had only lasted just over an hour and now Stiles was trying to drive Derek insane.

“But I’m bored!” Stiles whined.

Derek flicked the radio on, hoping to drown him out. Christmas music blared from the speakers and Derek scrambled to turn it off.

“Jesus the Christ!” Stiles yelled, his hands over his ears. “I didn’t know you liked Christmas music that much Derek.”

“I hate Christmas music.” Derek said, glaring at the radio. “Erica borrowed the car. She probably thought she was being funny.”

Stiles snorted and pulled out his phone. “I’m sure it would have been hilarious if I hadn’t been collateral damage.”

Derek ignored him.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Stiles started chuckling. “Apparently Erica  _ does _ think she’s funny.”

Derek rolled his eyes. Of course, she did. Sometimes Derek didn’t know why he was even friends with her.

“She said she can’t wait for us to get back, so she can take us out for a ‘glad you finally got your shit together’ dinner.”

“I told her it was only temporary.” Derek said, not surprise that she had willfully ignored him.

“Yeah I told her too. She sent a winky emoji, an eggplant, and raindrops. Obviously, she doesn’t believe us.”

“I guess if she thinks we’re dating our families will too.” Derek said with a sigh.

“Wow, Derek!” Stiles said, beaming. “Look at you, looking on the bright side!”

“Don’t get used to it.”

Stiles reached over and turned the radio back on, being careful to turn the volume knob down before any sound could come out. He then carefully twisted it until soft Christmas music filled the car.

Derek grit his teeth together. He reached out and changed the channel, only to find more Christmas music. He spent almost a minute flipping channels before giving up and turning the radio back off.

“Wow.” Stiles said. “You really  _ do _ hate Christmas music.”

“It’s annoying and repetitive. And it always makes me think of the mall for some reason…” Derek trialed off as he glared at the car driving too slowly in front of them.

“Thatta boy, Derek!” Stiles said gleefully. “Fight the man!”

Derek glanced distractedly at Stiles as he overtook the slower car. “Stiles, you literally work for the man.”

Stiles pouted and sighed deeply. “You’re right, I keep forgetting libraries are government property.”

“And you’re dad’s a sheriff.”

Stiles slumped back into his seat. “Way to ruin my fun, Derek Downer.”

They were both quiet for a few miles before Derek said, “Are you seriously mad I ruined your joke?”

Stiles smirked at him. “Nope. I just wanted to see how long you could go without saying anything.”

Derek glanced incredibly at Stiles. “How long  _ I _ could go? I can go  _ days _ without talking to anybody. Want me to prove it?”

“It wasn’t a challenge!” Stiles yelled in a panic.

Derek chuckled.

Stiles glared at him. “Just for that I get to pick the music!”

Stiles pulled out an aux and plugged it in to his phone. He glared at it in concentration before softly say ‘aha!’

Over the speakers a man started to speak softly. For a moment Derek thought they were going to listen to ASMR so Stiles could fall back to sleep but then the man started making jokes.

Derek listened for a minute before asking, “Stiles. What… is this?”

“This,” Stiles said reverently, sweeping his arm out and grinning. “Is pure genius.”

“Are they…?” Derek asked hesitantly.

“Shh Derek.” Stiles said, reaching out to caress the side of Derek’s face. “Don’t speak, just listen.”

Derek resigned himself to listening to someone sing ridiculous songs about dicks for a while.

* * *

 

Four hours later they had made it little over halfway through their drive, listened to all the stupid dick joke music Stiles could find and had had a lively debate over whether any of the songs had a deeper meaning or not.

Stiles craned his neck to look up at the sky. “It looks like it’s going to start snowing again.”

“Hope not. We might have to spend the night somewhere if it gets too bad.”

Stiles winced. “Three days until Christmas, places are going to be booked. You want me to start looking?” Stiles asked, wiggling his phone around.

“Not yet. I don’t want to stop unless we have to.”

Stiles frowned and shifted in his seat. “Does that mean I have to drive?”

“No.” Derek said firmly.

Stiles glanced worriedly at him. “Derek, you can’t drive nine hours straight if it keeps snowing like this.”

“Werewolf.” Derek said smugly.

Stiles huffed. “Werewolf is not an acceptable excuse for reckless driving!”

“I don’t need as much sleep as you  _ and _ my night vision is better than yours.”

Stiles gasped in outrage. “You do so need as much sleep as me! You being grumpy in the morning is proof!”

“I’m grumpy all the time, you have no proof.”

“Derek Hale, if you don’t pull over somewhere for the night I’m calling your mother.”

Derek gaped at him.

Stiles smirked, knowing he had won the argument.

“That’s right.” He said smugly. “Precious human cargo on board, your mom will totally take my side.”

“I can’t believe you and mom are ganging up on me and you haven’t even met yet.”

Stiles smirked. “Sucks to be you.”

* * *

 

An hour later and snow was really falling hard.

“Damn, it’s really coming down now.” Stiles said, worriedly looking out the window.

“You want me to pull over soon?” Derek asked, glancing over to check on him.

Stiles chewed his lip nervously. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” he pulled out his phone to look for hotels.

He was quiet for a few minutes before whispering “Fuck.”

“What is it?” Derek asked.

“The snow’s messing with the signal.” Stiles glanced out the window. “Or maybe it’s the mountains.”

Derek sighed and decreased his speed. “Sorry Stiles. Guess we’re doing this the old-fashioned way.”

Stiles smiled softly at him. “It’s fine. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

Derek looked doubtfully out at the tightly packed trees of the pacific highway.

He glanced over at Stiles, taking in his vaguely nervous expression and the way his hands wouldn’t stop squeezing the armrest.

Derek reached over brushed his fingers against the back of Stiles hand. “We’ll be fine Stiles. I’ve got the chains on.”

Stiles nodded absently but he stopped twitching as much.

* * *

 

After what felt like forever Stiles finally pointed out a bright and glowing vacant sign almost hidden in the snow and trees.

Derek sighed deeply in relief. Stiles had been tense and quiet for almost a full half hour and it had put Derek on edge.

He carefully turned into the parking lot of what looked like a motel, but it was hard to tell with the dark clouds and snow.

He parked as carefully as he could before jumping out of the car and hurrying inside the building with Stiles right on his heels.

They were hit with a blast of heat and the scent of wood smoke. Derek realized they were inside a large stylized faux wood cabin. In the middle of the high ceiling lobby was a long check in desk.

“Hello?” Stiles called, looking around in interest.

A crash and cursing came from behind the desk.

Stiles and Derek ran over to make sure the attendant was alright.

Behind the desk and sprawled out on the floor was a man dressed in a rumpled Santa suit, including beard and wild eyes.

He stared up at them for a moment before asking “Do I know you two or did I hit my head?”

“Coach Finstock?” Stiles asked in amazement.

The name rang a bell and Derek realized he was looking at one of his old high school teachers.

“What are you doing here?” Stiles and Finstock asked in unison.

“I own this place!” Finstock yelled, “What are _you_ _two_ doing here? Hill and Bilinski, right?”

“We’re looking for somewhere to spend the night. It’s a blizzard out there.” Derek said.

At the same time Stiles said, “Hale and Stilinski.”

Finstock didn’t seem to hear him. “Why the hell did you come here then?” he asked.

“Your vacancy light was on?” Stiles said in confusion.

“Fucking Greenberg!” Finstock yelled. “I told him to turn that light off hours ago!”

“Greenberg’s here?” Stiles asked, sounding baffled.

“Who’s Greenberg?” Derek whispered to Stiles.

Stiles smirked at him and leaned closer to whisper back “I’ll tell you later.” Stiles whipped around to look at Finstock, who had pulled himself and his chair up, and was brushing off the seat of his pants and readjusting his beard. “Wait! Does that me you don’t have any rooms available?”

Finstock glared at them. “I don’t have rooms at all, I have cabins.”

“Cabins?” Stiles whispered. He turned to Derek in excitement and whispered again “ _ Cabins _ .”

Derek sighed. He knew where this was going. “Do you have any available?”

Finstock regarded them through narrowed eyes. “It’s Christmas Eve Eve Eve.” He said sternly. “And we don’t accept walk-ins.”

Stiles face fell.

“ _ But _ …” Finstock said.

Stiles lit up and practically vibrated in place. “But?”

“But it  _ is _ Christmas.  _ And _ I know both of your parents. If you two hooligans so much as steal a washcloth I will be calling them, you hear me?”

“ _ Hooligans _ ?” Derek asked in bewilderment.

“Coach I swear on my honor I’ll keep Derek in line.” Stiles said while placing his hand over his heart and trying to look sincere

“ _ Me _ ?” Derek asked, offended.

“See that you do.” Finstock said, narrowing his eyes at Derek.

“What did I do?” Derek asked.

They both ignored him.

“So, Coach, how’d you end up owning  _ cabins _ ?” Stiles asked, eagerly leaning against the check in desk.

Finstock smiled, “I’ve always wanted to live out in the middle of nowhere in a beautiful little cabin. No angsty smelly teenagers for miles around.” He sighed wistfully before becoming completely serious. “But life out here is fucking expense and I needed something to do with my time, so I built cabins with my own two hands. And then I had too many cabins, so I decided to rent them out.”

Stiles eyed Finstock in concern. “I’m sure…that could happen to anyone?”

“But then!” Finstock continued, seemingly not having heard Stiles “The demand for rentable cabins increased and my need to continue making useful things only grew and I ran out of land to build on and cabins to rent.”

Stiles shuffled closer to Derek as they watched Finstock gesture wildly, his voice rising with every word and fake beard slipping off his chin.

“So, I bought more land! And I built more cabins! But I couldn’t maintain them all on my own, so I put up a help wanted sign! And my realtor saw it and told me she’d give me a discount if I would hire her nephew! So, I did! And she did! And now-” he cut himself off with a sob.

Tears filled his eyes. “Three hours away from Beacon Hills and I still can’t escape him.”

Stiles pressed his face against Derek’s shoulder and started shaking. For a moment Derek thought he was afraid before he heard a muffled snort and realized Stiles was just trying not to laugh.

“I’m glad you found your calling, sir.” Derek said, smiling stiffly.

Finstock looked up at him with haunted eyes. “I hate cabins.” He whispered, absently pushing his Santa hat up his forehead.

“How much for a night?” Derek asked loudly, avoiding eye contact.

Stiles couldn’t hold in his laugher anymore and bend over with it. Derek facepalmed.

Finstock glared at them and through gritted teeth said “Double.”

Derek silently pulled out his credit card.

* * *

 

“Can you believe that?” Stiles asked, stomping his feet to get the snow off them.

Derek shrugged. He was still reeling from meeting Greenberg, who had tried to carry their bags only to trip over his impractical elf shoes and fall head first in the snow. Derek had taken pity on him while Stiles laughed so hard he too had slipped in the snow.

“Poor Coach, I feel so sorry for him.”

“You know, he wasn’t like that at all when I was in high school.” Derek said, pulling his coat off and hanging it up to dry. He held his hand out and took Stiles’ coat too.

Stiles gave him a flirty smile before wandering off to look around the cabin.

It was small and cozy. Exposed wood and two large windows. It was one main room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Derek liked it. It was beautiful, and Derek privately thought Finstock would have been better off just selling the cabins one by one instead of renting them. He made a mental note to leave that in the suggestion box before they left. Maybe it had just never occurred to the man that he didn’t need to keep them all…

Stiles whistled from the kitchen nook. “It’s fully stock!” he said gleefully.

That was a pleasant surprise. They only had road trip food in the car and there was no way in hell Derek was going back on the road to find a store.

“For the price it’d better be.” Derek grumbled as he went into the bedroom to look around.

Stiles followed him in. “I’ll pay half?” he asked hesitantly.

Derek absently waved him away. “It’s fine. I know you’re a poor librarian with student loans and more on the way.”

Stiles nervously bit his lip. “If you’re sure?”

“Yes Stiles, I’m sure. I should have pulled over sooner.”

Stiles blink at him in surprise. “Did you just admit you were wrong?”

Derek shrugged. “It’s been known to happen, shocking as that might seem.”

Stiles smiled softly at him for a moment before he turned his attention back to the room. He wandered over to the window on the far wall. “Wow, this place is really beautiful Der! Are you trying to woo me?” he asked, spinning around to grin at Derek.

Derek huffed. “We’re dating, I don’t have to woo you.”

Stiles gasped and collapsed onto the bed. “Dating two weeks and the romance is already  _ dead _ !” he cried dramatically.

Derek laid down next to him. “Too bad for you.”

Stiles bounced up off the bed. “Fine!” he said, hands on his hips. “I’ll just have to be romantic enough for the both of us!” he took off out of the room.

Derek groaned and rolled over, kicking his shoes off and dragging a pillow over his face.

* * *

 

“Look Der-bear!” Stiles called excitedly.

Derek ignored him, too comfortable in the place between almost asleep and almost awake.

“Derek.” Stiles said in annoyance. “I made food.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Derek asked as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Stiles was standing in the doorway holding a plate in each hand.

Now that Derek was more aware he realized something smelled amazing.

Stiles came over to the bed and carefully sat down. He held the plates out for Derek to hold so he could pull his feet up and lean against the headboard.

“It smells great.” Derek said, handing one of the plates back and pulling himself up next to Stiles.

“Thanks.” Stiles muttered, blushing. “Everything I needed for it was in the fridge so…” He shrugged awkwardly.

“What…is it?” Derek asked. It looked sort of like an omelet but not quite.

“Omelet sandwich.” Stiles said, happily picking it up off the plate.

Derek looked back down at the food and realized there was bread under the egg.

He carefully picked his own sandwich up and took a bite.

He hummed happily. “This is delicious. Thank you, Stiles.”

Stiles shrugged awkwardly.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Derek asked, “Do you want me to sleep on the couch?”

Stiles whipped around to glare at him. “Don’t you dare!” he yelled, waving the index finger of his free hand. “We’re adult like people Derek! We can share a bed without making it weird.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes and leaned in threateningly. “At least  _ I _ can. Can you Derek?” he asked challengingly.

Derek put his hand on Stiles face and pushed him away. “Yes Stiles, I can share a bed.”

“We’ll just see about that won’t we Hale.”

* * *

 

After they had eaten what was technically considered lunch Derek built a fire and Stiles pulled out his laptop.

“I would say Netflix and chill but it’s a cliché and about the opposite of what I want right now.” Stiles said, settling down on the couch in front of the fireplace.

Derek sighed loudly. “I’m making a fire right now Stiles. Stop complaining.”

“I’ll stop complaining once it stops being freezing in here.” Stiles gave an exaggerated shiver as he sprawled himself out on the couch.

Derek rolled his eyes. “Stiles, there’s a heater on and a blanket across the back of the couch. You’re fine.”

“I’ll feel better once I’ve got a werewolf heater. They’re more reliable than the machine kind anyway.” Stiles muttered as he pulled the blanket over himself.

Derek blushed and pointedly kept his attention on the fire.

There were a few minutes of silence while they both concentrated on their very important tasks. And then Derek’s cell phone rang.

Satisfied that the fire was high enough to stick he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and looked down at caller id. He groaned. It was his mother.

“Who is it? Uncle Peter again?” Stiles asked.

Derek glanced up and saw Stiles bundled up with just his head peeking out of the blanket. Derek fought back a smirk at the sight.

“No. It’s my mom.” He glared down at the phone for a moment, debating if it was worth it to ignore her.  He decided it wasn’t. “Hello?” he answered reluctantly.

“Derek, sweetheart, it’s your mother.” Talia Hale answered, sounding just as chipper as she always did when they spoke on the phone.

“Hi, mom.” Derek said with a sigh.

“I was just wondering when you would be getting into town. I hear there’s quite the snowstorm coming in tonight.”

Derek pulled himself up from in front of the fireplace before throwing himself down next to Stiles on the couch. Stiles instantly wiggled closer and Derek absently wrapped his arm around Stiles shoulders.

“Yeah we got caught in it. We definitely won’t be making it home tonight.”

Talia was quite for a few moments. “We?” she asked hesitantly.

Derek went completely still. All week he’d had the strangest feeling he’d forgotten something. The feeling had been so bad he had unwrapped all the presents that he had bought just to make sure he’d gotten a present for every family member and that none of them had been mislabeled. He’d even gone so far as to buy gifts for Stiles’ family too. Nothing had made the feeling go away. Now he knew why.

He’d completely forgotten to tell his family he was dating someone.

“Yeah…” Derek said slowly. “You know. Me and my… boyfriend. Did I forget to mention that?”

Stiles groaned loudly and tipped his head towards the ceiling. ‘Why me?’ he mouthed. Derek fought back the urge to smack him.

“What was that?” Talia asked, sounding horrified.

“Just Stiles being Stiles mom.” Derek said in exasperation.

“What? Stiles? Why is Stiles there?”

“Because we’re dating.” Derek winced. He probably could have found a better way to say that.

Talia was quiet for a few moments before she sighed deeply. “Oh Derek. If you don’t want your family members to ask about your social life just tell us to stop and we will.”

Derek had asked them to stop. Several times in fact. None of them ever had. He grit his teeth in frustration. “You’re the one who insisted I bring someone home for the holidays.”

“Well, that’s true.” Talia said, sounding annoyed. “But I didn’t mean to put so much pressure on you to make you feel like you have to make something up to please me.”

For a moment Derek felt guilty for attempting to deceive his mother. But then she had to go and ruin the feeling by adding “Besides from what you’ve told me about Stiles he sounds like a terrible choice for a pretend boyfriend.”

“Excuse me?” Derek asked. He had to have heard her wrong.

“Well, you know.” Talia said slowly. “With how awkward you’ve said he is.”

Derek blinked. “What does that have to do with anything?”

He felt Stiles start to shift away from him. He carefully pulled Stiles back, his hand slipping under the blanket to press against Stiles chest while Stiles slid into place along Derek’s side.

“He’d probably give the game away, sweetheart.” Talia said with a laugh.

Derek forced himself to loosen his grip on his phone, not wanting to break it in his anger. “There’s no  _ game _ .”

Talia hummed. “Well the reason I called was to let you know that tomorrow we’re having a little get together with the Smith pack and I wanted you to pick up a present to give to Alisa, Alpha Smith’s daughter. I’m sure the two of you-”

Derek hung up on her. His phone started to ring again almost immediately. He turned it off and carefully sat it on the end table next to him.

He could feel Stiles breathing slow and deep under his hand. Derek shifted sideways on the couch, pressed his back against the armrest, and wrapped his free arm around Stiles’ waist. Stiles wiggled against him for a few seconds, trying to free his own arms, before Derek felt Stiles hand on his own. Stiles slotted their fingers together and Derek pressed his face against the back of Stiles’ neck.

He wanted to pretend his mother had never done anything like that before, but she had, and Derek was done with it. Had been done with it since he was sixteen and she’d tried to make him be ‘friends’ with Allison Argent, who had been  _ ten _ at the time.

Stiles and Derek sat in silence for a few minutes before Stiles hesitantly asked “Wanna watch stupid werewolf holiday movies from Lifetime?”

“Okay.” Derek muttered against Stiles skin.

Stiles moved around some more poking and prodding Derek until he was completely laid out along the couch with Stiles sprawled out across him, the blanket pulled over them both, with Stiles’ laptop on the coffee table in front of them and the fire roaring pleasantly.

Stiles had set up a movie, but Derek didn’t pay any attention to it. He was far more interested in keeping himself calm. Stiles was being surprisingly helpful with that. All Derek could feel was the soft comfortable couch and Stiles. All he could smell was the fire and Stiles. All he could hear was the soft sound of the movie and Stiles’ heartbeat.

Derek nuzzled into Stiles’ hair and let himself completely relax.

* * *

 

The sound of a phone ringing jerked Derek out of his light doze. Stiles groaned loudly and sat up, managing to smack Derek in the face with his elbow in the process.

Sitting up on Derek’s legs Stiles reached over and picked his phone up from the coffee table. He sighed at it and glanced at Derek. “It’s my dad. Should I answer it, or have we had enough family drama for one day?”

Derek just shrugged. He’d never actually talked to Stiles’ dad before, but he’d heard plenty of stories. He wasn’t particularly worried. “It’s up to you.”

Stiles chewed on his lip for a moment before answering the phone. “Hey dad, what’s up?”

“Why did Talia Hale call me in a panic?” Sheriff Stilinski did not sound at all pleased. Derek and Stiles both winced.

“The reception out here is-” Stiles tried but the sheriff cut him off.

“You sound clear as a bell to me, just cut to the chase Stiles.”

Stiles glanced at Derek, who waved his hand feebly. “She and Derek had a fight, but she obviously didn’t realize it.”

The sheriff was quiet for a moment before he said, “She seems to be under the impression that you and Derek are pretending to date?”

Derek groaned. They hadn’t even gotten to Beacon Hills yet and already they’re plan was falling apart.

“We’re not pretending to date.” Stiles said petulantly.

The sheriff was quite for a moment before slowly saying “Uh-huh.”

“We’re not!” Stiles yelled, flailing his free arm out.

“Sure.” The Sheriff said.

“We’re totally real dating!”

“I believe you.”

“We’re cuddling on the couch  _ right now _ !”

Derek hid his face against his arm in secondhand embarrassment.

“On which couch? I thought you were coming home for Christmas?”

Stiles winced. “Sorry I forgot to call. It’s a blizzard so Derek and I pulled over for the night.”

“I’m glad you guys decided not to drive in a blizzard. And please tell me you took his car and not yours?” the Sheriff asked pleadingly.

“E tu, father?” Stiles wailed.

The Sheriff chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He paused a moment before adding “Just keep me up to date and drive very carefully, Derek.”

Stiles pulled his phone away from his ear to blink at it. He turned and blinked at Derek. “Did I just get replaced by my own boyfriend?” Stiles asked, sounding baffled.

Derek sat up before he reached over and took the phone from Stiles. “I promise to get him home safely Sheriff Stilinski.”

“See that you do.” The Sheriff said firmly. “And I’ll call you mother back. Her worry over my son being a bad influence on you is obviously misplaced.”

Derek winced while Stiles went still against him. “Sorry about that sir, she’s a touch-”

“Controlling!” Stiles interrupted, pressing up against Derek’s chest to yell into the phone.

Derek glared at him while Stiles smiled innocently at him.

“Well, just have a pleasant evening. And text me your location so I know where to start looking in case you lose my son, Derek.” The Sheriff sounded nice enough, but Derek knew a treat when he heard one.

“Bye dad!” Stiles yelled as he took his phone out of Derek’s slack fingers.

Stiles made a noise of surprise before saying “Oh wow it’s getting late.” He glanced at Derek before asking “Dinner and then bed?”

Derek nodded and gently slid Stiles over so he could pull his legs free.

He checked the fire and saw that Stiles had obviously gotten up at some point to put more wood on it. Derek was quite surprised he hadn’t noticed Stiles getting up. He must have been more tired than he’d realized.

Satisfied the fire wouldn’t be going out any time soon Derek made his way over to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards, looking for something to make them for dinner.

Stiles was leaning against the small kitchen island that separated the kitchen area and the living room while he glared at his phone. He seemed to be furiously texting. Derek eyed him for a moment, debating if he really wanted to know or not. Stiles caught him looking before he could ask.

Stiles smirked and held up the phone “Say cheese!” he said brightly.

Derek glared more out of habit than because he really minded if Stiles took his picture. Stiles looked at the picture and sighed deeply. “You could at least try to look like you don’t mind being around me…” he muttered.

Derek was surprised that Stiles sounded a little hurt. That wouldn’t do at all.

Derek took two long steps over to him and carefully took his phone. He flipped the camera to front facing and then pressed his mouth against Stiles cheek. He held the phone up and absently pressed his thumb to the shutter button. He pulled a bit away to see Stiles reaction, but Stiles was staring at him, mouth open and eyes wide in surprise.

“What?” Derek asked. “You’re allowed to kiss me, but I’m not allowed to kiss you?”

Stiles blinked several times before taking his phone out of Derek’s hand and placing it on the counter.

Stiles carefully and slowly raised his hands and cupped Derek’s face.

Derek’s heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest it was beating so hard. He realized there was only a few inches separating them and he could be kissing Stiles if he only tilted his head forward a little.

“Derek,” Stiles murmured, his eyes questioning. “Can I?”

Derek thought about how upset the both of them would be if they ruined their friendship. So far, they hadn’t done anything new. Other than two kisses on the cheek. If their relationship went farther than friends would they really be able to make it work? And then Derek realized they’d been dating for two weeks and they hadn’t even kissed yet. They’d done everything a couple would do; go out together, stay in together, cuddle just because they were in the same room together. And that wasn’t even counting that day. They’d done all of that earlier in the week. They’d even gone so far as to go Christmas shopping together for their mutual friends.

_ Fuck it _ , Derek thought. Stiles was right, they were adult like people. If this didn’t work out they could still be friends. Derek hoped it would work out.

Derek pressed forward, and his lips met Stiles’.

He felt Stiles relax against him as they kissed, just a gentle press of heat.

After a moment Derek pulled back to check Stiles’ reaction. His pupils were blown wide and his breathing had speed up. He looked up at Derek with his mouth hanging open temptingly.

“Question.” Stiles said, sounding a little breathless. “Can we  _ please _ start dating now?”

Derek smirked at him. “I thought we  _ were _ dating.” he said before grabbing Stiles’ ass and lifting him up to carry him into the bedroom.

Stiles squealed in surprise before wrapping his legs around Derek’s waist and his arms around Derek’s neck.

“Is that a yes?” Stiles asked through a laugh.

Derek gently dropped Stiles onto the bed and settled over him, hands on either side of his head and his knees cradling Stiles’ hips. “Yes Stiles, we can date. Now that you’ve finally asked me.”

The snow was falling heavily outside their little bubble of warmth and Derek suspected they were going to be a little late in showing up for Christmas. But Derek didn’t mind, he’d gotten a very interesting present he couldn’t wait to unwrap.

**Author's Note:**

> come hand out with me on [tumblr](https://graciebirdie.tumblr.com) if you feel like it


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